Current LCA methods are not tailored to space activities and exhibit major methodological gaps in modelling the environmental impacts of rocket and satellite launch or re-entry emissions. Time- and location-dependent Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods are either missing or incomplete, and a holistic framework for transparent and reproducible LCA studies in the space sector is lacking.

You will develop a novel scientific LCA framework to quantify environmental impacts and trade-offs of rocket launches, artificial re-entries, and the broader space sector. Your main focus will be on contributions to LCIA method development in close collaboration with aerospace engineers, atmospheric and climate scientists working on atmospheric emissions related to launch and re-entry activities, as well as dynamic/prospective LCA. Additional aspects include uncertainty assessment, robustness evaluation or system design optimization.

You will be enrolled in the ETHZ (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ) doctoral school, and receive your PhD title from ETHZ. This position is part of the Marie Sklodowska Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Network (DN) "SLICE” (Space Launch Impact on Climate and Environment). You will have the status as a "SERI-funded MSCA DN Grantee”. As part of the MSCA DN, you will visit the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium in Davos (PMOD, Davos, Switzerland) and Deimos Engineering and Systems SLU (DES, Puerollano, Spain) for ca. 3 months each. You will collaborate closely with the other SLICE research projects and participate in network training and workshops.

Horizon Europe MSCA Mobility Rule: Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the host organization (Switzerland) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date – unless as part of a compulsory national service or a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention. Horizon Europe MSCA Eligibility Criteria: Doctoral Candidates (DC) must, at the date of recruitment by the host organization, have not been awarded a doctoral degree. Applicants must be eligible to enroll on a PhD program at ETHZ.

PSI: An interdisciplinary, innovative, and collaborative environment with systematic on-the-job training, personal development opportunities, and strong support for balancing work with family or other commitments through modern employment conditions and on-site infrastructure.

LEA: A leading group in developing open Python packages for LCA, including Brightway , premise , and edges . You will receive hands-on training on LCA and work with these LCA tools alongside atmospheric emission, trajectory, and launcher optimisation models from project partners such as LEAT , REAT , WACCM .

SLICE consortium: An international network of 30+ researchers across multiple disciplines. You will benefit from a structured training program on space transportation systems, atmospheric and environmental impacts. The position is funded for 36 months (extendable up to 12 months) with a competitive salary, allowances, and additional funding for technical training and conference participation.

Interested candidates are invited to submit one single PDF containing the following documents in this exact order: